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DR.Congo orchestra brings Mozart to heart of Africa

by David Youant, Sun Feb 21, 10:03 am ET

KINSHASA (AFP) – In Kinshasa, home of the swaying Congolese rumba, 200 people at a local church have succeeded in creating a concert hall orchestra to bring Handel, Beethoven and Mozart to the heart of Africa.

They are a motley mix of dressmakers and shopkeepers, pupils and students, hairdressers and civil servants, all part of an orchestra which tackles great works from Western classical tradition.

In their black suits and satin gowns, they have been playing to increasing acclaim since they were formed 16 years ago.

"In Africa and even in the world, you'll never see an orchestra like ours, consisting entirely of blacks," proclaimed Armand Diangienda, musical director of the Kimbanguist Symphony Orchestra (OSK) which he helped found in 1994.

"It's an orchestra of amateurs," he added, "but it's not just any orchestra that can play Beethoven and Mozart."

Diangienda, 46, is a grandson of Simon Kimbangu, founder of the Kimbanguist church, which claims about 10 million followers in the Democratic Republic of Congo's population of 60 million.

The church may be controversial -- its beliefs are based on Simon Kimbangu, who is seen as a black prophet -- but its orchestra has won widespread backing from all kinds who go to concerts or attend Sunday services when it plays.

Still, the musicians' public consists mainly of white people and they also attract foreign conductors, some of whom have made the trip to the shores of the Congo river to lead them in concert.

Antoine Malungane, 46, a nurse by training and a double bass player in the orchestra since its creation, fondly remembers the 2001 visit of US conductor Michael Morgan, musical director of the Oakland Philharmonic Orchestra.

Having started out with just a dozen musicians, including five violinists, but now numbering scores, the leaders of the OSK did not expect the orchestra "to take on these proportions," Malungane said.

A documentary film entitled "Kinshasa Symphony," made in the capital in the summer and autumn of 2009 by German directors Claus Winsmann and Martin Baer, is showing at the current Berlin Film Festival.

The film shows the daily lives of some of the 185 instrumental players and the 110 chorists, including rehearsals and how they manage to reconcile their passion with their professional activities.

"The musicians didn't come here to earn a wage, but rather to glorify God," said Armand Diangienda, a trained pilot and a self-trained musician and a big fan of the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra.

According to Diangienda, who has conducted Beethoven's Ninth Symphony and the Blue Danube waltz by Strauss, "classical music is a way for us to express our joy and our woes."

Some people, like 40-year-old chorist Angele Yala, say they get "spiritual motivation" from the musical sessions.

Between two rehearsals of the "Hallelujah Chorus" from Handel's "Messiah," colleague Aurelie Bode, who has spent 13 of her 27 years singing in the choir, declares, "It's only death that will separate me from the OSK."

02.09.2010"Kinshasa Symphony" is nominated for the Erasmus EuroMedia Awards 2010.

17.08.2010The 6th Jecheon International Music & Film Festival presents the Grand Prize to "Kinshasa Symphony" from the International Competition section, "World Music Film Today".

16.08.2010Rhode Island Int. Film Festival 2010: Grand Prize "Best Cinematography" goes to "Kinshasa Symphony" The 2010 Flickers: Rhode Island International Film Festival (RIIFF) announced the winners in this year’s film competition at its annual Awards Ceremony in downtown Providence, RI. The festival ran August 10th-15th and showcased over 200 cinematic works, including 35 World and 23 US/North American Premieres. The films were selected from a record entry base of over 4200 international submissions. www.film-festival.org

30.10.2009 The team is back in Berlin and the postproduction has started already.

16.10.2009 The second phase of filming in Kinshasa has begun.Fortunately, the rains have held off. Rehearsals, outside shots, short musician portraits and a new protagonist: a tubist with his own pharmacy.And:the cameraman still has both his shoes.

4.10.2009 sounding images GmbH has succeeded in bringing the Kinshasa Symphony project to the attention of the Rundfunk-Sinfonieorchester Berlin. The orchestra gave the filming team a crate with collected instruments for L’Orchestre Symphonique Kimbanguiste. A long-term partnership is planned between the two orchestras. An instrument maker is also to travel to Kinshasa to offer support and advice locally.

20.08.2009sounding images has succeeded in securing the patronage of the German Commission for UNESCO for the Kinshasa Symphony project. This makes us very proud.

19.08.2009 The first leg of the filming is over. With the exception of one of the cameraman’s shoes that got lost on the flight back, the team and their equipment have returned unscathed…